Foot liftable toilet seat

ABSTRACT

A toilet seat that is easily liftable and lowerable with the user&#39;s foot is described. This foot liftable toilet seat can be attached to any standard toilet. It provides hands free raising and lowering of the seat allowing for more sanitary use of the toilet.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The field of invention relates generally to toilet design, toilet accessories, and in particular the invention relates to liftable toilet seat design.

2. Description of Prior Art

Since the invention of the modem toilet, there have been improvements to its design and function. While this field of invention is not considered glamorous, it is an essential component of our society's sanitary handling of bodily waste. The invention of the liftable toilet seat was a noted improvement of the design, allowing for more sanitary use of the toilet from both standing and sitting positions. However, in order to lift the common toilet seat, one has to use their hands to do so. From an ease of use standpoint and from a sanitary standpoint, it is the goal of the foot liftable toilet seat to improve upon the standard toilet seat.

Toilet Seat Lifting devices have been patented since the 1970's [R35] and there have been numerous designs. Most of these designs have failed to gain wide spread acceptance and use. In order to understand why, one must first look at the designs to see what design flaws might have contributed to this. The patents listed in the references fall into one of three catagories:

-   -   Attachable handle designs. [R1, R4, R5, R6, R9, R13, R24, R25,         R34, R35]     -   Mechanical lift designs. [R2, R3, R7, R10, R11, R12, R14, R16,         R19, R20, R21, R23, R26, R27, R28, R29, R30, R31, R32, R33]     -   Handicap assist lift designs. [R8, R15, R17, R18, R22]

The last of the three, handicap assist lift designs, are typically larger and more mechanically complex. This is in part due to the design requirement that they assist the individual from the sitting to the standing position, thus the need to perform load bearing operations. The handicap assist lift designs perform an important function in society, but this function is considered a niche market in the toilet industry and is not the intended sector of the Foot Liftable Toilet Seat. Thus, this type of design will not further be discussed.

Mechanical lift designs come in a variety of types ranging from purely mechanical advantage lever based designs to much more complicated mechanical hydraulic, mechanical pneumatic, or mechanical electric designs. Most of these designs are intended to be aftermarket devices that are fitted onto or around an existing standard toilet. These mechanical lift designs have two primary inhibitors to wide spread acceptance. First, they have a fairly complex design, which leads to cost concerns. Second, the same mechanical complexity often involves a large number of exposed parts which is more difficult to keep clean.

Attachable handle designs are typically simple in devices that are attached to the underside of an existing toilet seat, either through the use of adhesives or screws. Various designs exist ranging from simple knobs, to custom handles such as miniature baseball bats. While acceptable for household use, these designs lack the ruggedness that is required for widespread acceptance in public restrooms. They are too prone to breakage and vandalism for public restroom use, which is one of the primary markets that the Foot Liftable Toilet Seat is intending to pursue. In addition, some of the designs are also more difficult to clean than the Foot Liftable Toilet Seat.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention consists of a standard toilet seat whose shape has been modified to include one or more foot liftable protrusions that extend past the side or front of the toilet bowl. It provides hands free raising and lowering of the seat via one's foot, thereby allowing for more sanitary use of the toilet. A foot liftable protrusion is defined as a feature of the toilet seat (either integral or added on) that extends past the toilet bowl and allows the user to raise and lower the toilet seat with their foot. These foot liftable protrusions can be located anywhere along the toilet seat (from back to front). This foot liftable toilet seat can be attached to any standard toilet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following is a brief description of the drawings enclosed in this document. For a complete understanding of the content of these drawings and the objects of the invention, please refer to the detailed description of the invention in this document.

The accompanying drawings are:

Example Foot Liftable Toilet Seat Schematic Drawings

FIG. 1. is a top view schematic of an example design for a closed front foot liftable toilet seat.

FIG. 2. is a top view schematic of an example design for an open front foot liftable toilet seat.

Example Closed Front Foot Liftable Toilet Seat 3D Sketches

FIG. 3. is a top view rendering of an example design for a closed front foot liftable toilet seat.

FIG. 4. is a right view rendering of an example design for a closed front foot liftable toilet seat.

FIG. 5. is a front view rendering of an example design for a closed front foot liftable toilet seat.

FIG. 6. is an isometric view rendering of an example design for a closed front foot liftable toilet seat.

Example Open Front Foot Liftable Toilet Seat 3D Sketches

FIG. 7. is a top view rendering of an example design for an open front foot liftable toilet seat.

FIG. 8. is a right view rendering of an example design for an open front foot liftable toilet seat.

FIG. 9. is a front view rendering of an example design for an open front foot liftable toilet seat.

FIG. 10. is an isometric view rendering of an example design for an open front foot liftable toilet seat.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention, the foot liftable toilet seat, aims to address various sanitary and usage concerns that standard toilet seats have. First, the standard toilet seat in some situations (for example in public restrooms) often experiences the scenario where the user was either too lazy to lift the seat or was unwilling to lift the seat with their hands. What typically happens is that the toilet seat is left down and urine gets on the seat. Toilet seat paper sanitary barriers attempt to address this problem. However, the sanitary barrier dispensers are often empty. What is preferable is to offer the user a simple way of lifting the seat with their foot, thus avoiding any direct skin contact with the toilet seat. In addition, the foot liftable toilet seat is more ergonomic because it doesn't require the user to bend over to pick it up. [R36, R37]

The two example designs shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 illustrate both closed and open front foot liftable toilet seat designs. The toilet bowl (C02) and reservoir basin (C01) are standard toilet designs found in home settings. It should be noted that the foot liftable toilet seat is able to be installed on or adapted to use on any toilet, residential or commercial. The foot liftable toilet seat is mountable via the standardized mounting brackets for toilet seats (C05).

The closed front foot liftable toilet seat (C03) is an example design that would more typically be found in (but not limited to) residential settings. It consists of a standard liftable toilet seat whose shape has been modified to include one or more foot liftable protrusions (C04) that extend past the side of the toilet bowl (C02). A foot liftable protrusion is defined as a feature of the toilet seat (either integral or added on) that extends past the toilet bowl and allows the user to raise and lower the toilet seat with their foot. These foot liftable protrusions can be located anywhere along the contour of the toilet seat (from back to front). The example design shows the foot liftable protrusions (C04) at the front of the liftable toilet seat (C03) to minimize required lifting force.

The open front foot liftable toilet seat (C06) is an example design that would more typically be found in (but not limited to) public restroom settings. It consist of a standard open front liftable toilet seat whose shape has been modified to include one or more foot liftable protrusions (C07) that extend past the side of the toilet bowl (C02). The open front design has a primary difference from the closed front design in that its front is discontinuous (C08). This opening provides favorable sanitary and cleaning conditions particular to male public bathrooms. Often in male public restrooms, the toilet stalls are used as capacity overflow urinals and the ability to easily lift or lower the toilet seat with one's foot would be advantageous.

The operation of the foot liftable toilet seat is simple and ergonomic. The user simply places their foot beneath the foot lift protrusion (C04 & C07), also known as the foot lift tab, and lifts the toilet seat up. Conversely, to lower the toilet seat, the user extends their leg and hooks their foot under the foot lift tab and then pulls their leg back and gently lowers the seat to the sitting position.

While the invention has been described with reference to an example embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications, additions, and deletions are within the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims. 

1. A toilet seat that has a contour which protrudes past the outer extent the toilet bowl on either or both sides of the toilet.
 2. The foot liftable protrusions can exist anywhere along the contour of the toilet seat. This includes the protrusions being placed on the back, sides, or front of the toilet seat and anywhere in between.
 3. A foot liftable protrusion is defined as a feature of the toilet seat (either integral or added on) that extends past the toilet bowl and allows the user to raise and lower the toilet seat with their foot.
 4. These protrusions can be of varying shape or contour, dependent on the specific designer skilled in the art of toilet design.
 5. The foot liftable toilet seat is attachable to the toilet via the standardized mounts used for residential and commercial toilets. 